Tread lightly

Move that body: 40-minute run (3 walk breaks totaling 3 minutes)

It wasn’t the rain that had me second-guessing my plan to run this morning. Oh no, I swear it wasn’t the rain.

It was something else, a little more internal. Like somewhere between my waist and my thighs. At least that’s how I described it to Mark when he asked for my “agenda” at 6:45 a.m.

“You know … there is another option,” he said.

“I know, I know. I can walk the dog. Less jiggling of organs,” I replied.

“Nope. That’s not the option.”

“I don’t want to go to the Groupon gym – it’s too far from the new house.”

“Wrong again,” he said.

He had the nerve to tell me I was wrong … TWICE. Apparently, he wanted spaghetti squash all next week for dinner.

And then he clued me in …

There’s a treadmill in our basement!

Mark’s parents were kind enough to give us the beauty. Now, before you go asking why they were willing to give me us a treadmill and not sponsor me for Madrid, let me tell you two things:

1. This treadmill was not new when I met Mark 5 years ago.

2. Moving the treadmill from their house frees them up to set up a “baby-sitting station.”

Nonetheless, it was free and it allowed me to run this morning without fear of messing myself. I could merely stop, run up the stairs (keeping up the cardio), go to the bathroom and return to the basement to resume my run.

Don’t I look excited? I was. I swear.

I started with a 1-minute walk, turned up the speed and ran for 10 minutes. I walked another minute, ran 5 and walked another minute. That put me at 18 minutes total. After that, I just ran. I got to the point where I thought if I took a walk break that I wouldn’t want to run again.

To keep myself entertained and sane, I brought down my laptop and listened to the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

Oh, that on my laptop? It’s my tank. What can I say - it got hot in the basement! And the perk of running by yourself in the basement means that you can take off your shirt if your hot. Taking your shirt off on the street, 30 weeks pregnant or not, is never an option on the street.

Yay for sweating in the basement! Yay for the treadmill!

Note: I didn’t really pay attention to distance as I’m not convinced the treadmill is calibrated correctly. For goodness sake, it said I burned 505 calories in 40 minutes. I just care that I ran 37 minutes out of 40.

How do you manage workouts when things get in your way, like illness or life?

Three Things Thursday

Move that body: Quick upper body circuit w/ 5- and 10-pound weights and a 1.5-mile walk with Denali. Maybe we’ll do a second walk or some post-dinner yard play.

1. Someone was a movin’ and a groovin’ this morning.

And it wasn’t me.

And it wasn’t Denali.

It seems baby boy was listening to some Young Dro and wanted to do the shoulder lean. I’m not sure how to describe the feeling of him moving back and forth across but I can tell you that it will make you not sleep. And slightly nauseous.

2. Even though I was up a good half-hour earlier than normal, I could not get motivated this morning. I bargained with myself, subbing out Jackie Warner with a DIY weight set with George. I made sure to work each of the following muscle groups at least twice: biceps, triceps, shoulders and back. I did three sets for each exercise*, the first two sets with 15 reps and 5-pound weights and the last set with 10-12 reps and 10-pound weights. Ouch!

*The exercises: Bicep curl followed by shoulder press; row followed by tricep kickback; standing hammer curl with overhead press followed by tricep extensions; and rear fly.

3. Anyone catch that RnR is doing a marathon in Madrid in 2012?

Yeah. It’s pretty awesome.

While I’ve been planning to run my first 26.2 in Chicago in 2012, I am dying to run this. I’ve wanted to go to Madrid since I saw Gwyneth and Mario tour Spain on PBS, and what better way to explore a city than by running it?! Now, it’s likely that I’d have to leave baby boy with Grams and Gramps and it’s completely unlikely that I’ll win the lottery to participate in such a race but I’m obsessed.

Anyone want to sponsor me?

30 rock: Can I even call this a weekly check-up

Move that body: Completely not arduous 2-mile walk with Denali

“Well it doesn’t look like you’ve gotten too fat.”

Yeah, I forgot to include that one in the roundup of the Great Move quotes I posted earlier but, oh, it was said. Said by Mark’s lovely aunt on Saturday after she stopped by unannounced with her 500-pound husband.

You might think I’m joking but I’m not.

She then covered her tracks by saying that I looked good (uh-huh) and reminded me that I need to eat (thanks for the update). Thankfully, I was so tired from the move that I failed to come back with something quick-witted like, “Your braid is ugly.”

Fern 1, pregnancy 0.

But at least I now get to say that I’m 7.5 months pregnant as today marks 30 weeks. Only 10 more to go. Three-quarters of the way there as my co-worker pointed out (I like him).

The rundown

Overall feelings: Good but more tired. I’m only uncomfortable when this kid sticks his ass in my ribs.

Sea monkey: He’s getting ridges in his brain and cool stuff like that.

Weight gain: Unknown (I think I’m on the high side of average or just over the recommended weight gain)

Cravings: None

Running: Still going strong. I even did “sprints” with Denali in the yard this evening. 

I’m very pleased that I’ve made it to 30 weeks, running-wise, even though I haven’t maintained the endurance like some of my fellow pregnant ladies, who inspire me every day. I now have my sights set on 32 weeks.

Hood winked

Workout: 2.7-mile “run” (walked <.25 mile)

I didn’t even want to count how many days had passed since I last run. While my days have been filled with walks and stairs and all around movin’ around, I was anxious to put an end to my runless streak.

I leashed up Denali, put on the Garmin and headed out to explore the neighborhood. I have run a bit in the area both in training for and during the Fort-4-Fitness half-marathon but this morning was a whole different experience. I felt like I was finding my legs, so to say. I had no idea how long a route would be, where the crosswalks were at and how friendly the neighbors would be.

As it turns out, the route ended up being a bit short, the crosswalks were manageable and the neighborhood dogs were LOUD. But it twas a run and any run is good. Denali got out some much needed energy, I sidestepped the dead squirrel before he could see it and I got to see some pretty houses. I also got a good idea of where I should run, with the ability to adjust the distance of the route, until I’m able to go 4+ post-baby and head to the nearby park (1.5 miles away) and catch the Greenway.

***

Home update

“It’s hard work screwing everything in this house.”

In two days, I installed one towel bar, five curtain rods and seven sets of blinds! The kicker? I did all of it with a manual screwdriver. While I did have access to a cordless screwdriver and used the drill bit to make pilot holes, the Phillips bit was a pain in the rear and it was much easier to manually turn the screw.

Talk about some upper body work! After “finishing up” yesterday (I still have two sets of blinds to go), I could literally feel the pain in my right arm muscles and shoulder.

It’s all worth it as the house (despite the mess) is starting to come together.

Moving on up

Move that body: 2-ish mile walk with Mark and Denali

Moving into a two-story house with a basement is sort of like buying a very expensive and frustrating stair climber. My calves are seriously feeling it this evening.

But it's done. Or as done as it's going to be at this point and time.

To recap the weekend, here are some quotes:

"Let me be a baby for just a minute." This was not me, I swear!

"We have too much crap."

"Denali! Denali! Get back here Denali!"

"Are you serious? We don't have hot water?"

"I'm hungry."

"When in doubt, put it in the basement."

"Damnit, Denali stop peeing on the basement floor!"

"Are you sure you should be lifting that?"

"Mark, you're going to be a hoarder."

"I'm going to go ahead and put this (the iron) over here by the woman station."

"Part of my community service says I have to work outside."

"We're going to turn off the main power."

If you're super bored, I did a little video tour of the house before it was turned upside down with all of our stuff.



I promise that, in a few days, I'll be back to writing about slogging my way through pregnancy. Until then, stay tuned for my awesome mini blind hanging skills.

And congrats to everyone who raced this weekend, especially those in Eugene and Cincinnati1